[By WTF/NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The World Taekwondo Federation held its Council meeting in Gyeongju, Korea on April 28, 2011.

The Council unanimously approved a new WTF membership of five countries – Cook Islands, Rwanda, Tuvalu, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Pending a final approval of the WTF General Assembly scheduled for April 30, the WTF global membership would expand to 197 countries, ranking ninth among International Sports Federations.

The Council also approved amendments to the WTF Statutes, the WTF Competition Rules, the WTF Poomsae Competition Rules and the Byelaw of the WTF World Ranking.

Among major changes to the WTF Statutes are the increase in the number of WTF committees from the previous 12 to 13 and the committee name changes.

The Council approved the addition of the Poomsae Committee as a sub-committee of the WTF Technical and Development Committee, formerly the Technical Committee.

The other WTF committees are the Women’s Committee, the TV & New Media Committee, the Marketing Committee, the Athletes & Coaches Committee, the Paralympic Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Youth & Collegiate Committee, the Anti-Doping & Medical Committee, the Juridical Committee, the Scientific Research Committee, the Taekwondo Tour Events Committee, and the Expansion Committee.

Under the amended WTF Poomsae Competition Rules, the age limits for athletes in each division is based on the year, not on the date, when the championships are held.

A free style poomsae competition was newly included, with detailed scoring criteria and method of scoring. Free style poomsae is the performance based on taekwondo techniques with composition of music and choreography.

The classification of male and female divisions was changed. The Junior Division was changed into the Under 17 Division, the 1st Senior Division was into the Under 29 Division, the 2nd Senior Division into the Under 39 Division, the 1st Master Division into the Under 49 Division, and the 2nd Master Division into the Under 59 Division. A new Over 60 Division was newly added.

The WTF Council approved new evaluation criteria for the WTF-sanctioned international tournaments.

The Council was supposed to select the host sites for the 21st WTF World Taekwondo Championships and the 7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, but decided to announce the successful sites through e-voting at the 6th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships on July 29-31, 2011 in Vladivostok, Russia.

After lunch, the WTF Council members had a brainstorming session for two and a half hours with various topics, including “World Peace through Taekwondo,”“Expansion of the Taekwondo Peace Corps,”“Taekwondo as an Olympic Sport,”“Dynamic Taekwondo,”“Greater Media Exposure,” and “Task of WTF Training Centers.”